Portfolio for Jonathan Tetley - Commissionaportrait

Brought up in Wiltshire, Jonathan Tetley went on to attend Bryanston School before starting a foundation course at Winchester School of Art in 1969. After going on to study illustration and graphic design at Bristol Polytechnic, including printmaking under David Inshaw, Jonathan left art school in 1973 and worked as an illustrator and graphic designer for MediCine Ltd. in London until 1975. After a year of printmaking at The Banana Warehouse, Wapping, he worked as a typographer and illustrator for The Compton Press. After a period working freelance and making a start with portraiture, he started painting in watercolour and studied life drawing with Michael Charlton at St. Edmund’s Arts Centre in Salisbury, and at Bath University with students of Cecil Collins. Between 1994 and 1997, he studied portrait drawing and painting at Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence and since then has been accepting commissions, exhibiting and also going back to teach at Charles H. Cecil Studios.

Birth date

1952

Education

Winchester School of Art
Bristol Polytechnic Faculty of Art and Design under David Inshaw
St. Edmund’s Arts Centre
Bath University
Charles H. Cecil Studios, Florence

In portrait painting, I favour a naturalistic approach to the figurative as much as possible. Apart from achieving the sitter's overall and obvious appearance I endeavour to incorporate as much of the sitter's personality, character and temperament as possible; my objective being that the beholder viewing the final work not only sees a good likeness but has a real feeling for the person portrayed.

Statement

“Usually, I spend time with the sitter and work out a suitable pose with them. Sometimes this has to be changed to get the sitter 'in character'. I’ll take some photos for reference and later comparison and start on the ‘laying in’, either then or at the next sitting. Then I like several sessions of sittings, two or three days each (short bursts for children with plenty of breaks) depending on the stamina of the subject. In between these sessions, I take the picture home, study it, and make compositional changes and so on. I’m happy to discuss the painting with the sitter as we go along and I’m always confident that I will be able present them with a picture they’ll be happy with. There can be sittings in people’s houses or in my studio in Salisbury, or studio space in London can be arranged if neither of these options is possible. Framing can be discussed after the picture is finished (costs are not included in the portrait price), and I would include a later visit to varnish the picture if it’s oil.”

The
Prices quoted are for the standard mediums of oil on canvas and bronze
(in
the case of sculpture).For other media, prices may vary, please enquire
directly with us for more specific quotes.Back to top